


A Scratched Record

by ivebeenthinkingtoomuch



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Anxiety, Explicit Language, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Shits fucked up man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-05-29 13:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6378661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivebeenthinkingtoomuch/pseuds/ivebeenthinkingtoomuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Sam and Tucker weren't there for Danny's accident? What if, instead, Jazz found her younger brother holding on for dear life after a serious accident? What if Danny was on his own through his journey as the halfa known as Phantom?<br/>This work shows what could have been.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fates Bitch Slap

**Author's Note:**

> Instead of the support of his friends and sister, Danny is left to grow and figure out his ghost powers for himself. The question is will the results be the same? Or will there be an entirely different outcome. Fate will decide in the end.

Bright, neon green letters flashed across the desktop screen exclaiming the phrase “Mission Complete!” The young boy, about the age of fourteen, stared back with no real enthusiasm for accomplishing this feat, for he had done so a good hundred times before. With a heavy sigh, he pushed his desk chair out only a little in order to spin a few times and look around his room. It wasn’t exactly messy, but it was by no means clean either. He was sure that his mother would lecture him sooner or later about tidying up, but he simply couldn’t be bothered right now.  
Danny was bored out of his mind. Both Tucker and Sam, his two best friends, were in New York City but for different reasons. Sam had snuck out in order to go to Warped Tour and Tucker was at some techno event in order to get a brand new PDA or something like that. They had both invited him, and he declined both times. Neither of those things had piqued his interest, despite the fact that he enjoyed both technology and music. With another frustrated sigh, he shook his head and made his way down the steps.  


Walking into the kitchen, a pile of books and papers spread across the table caught his eye. Jazz, his older sister, was studying for her online summer courses and, in his opinion, taking it all far too seriously.  


“You ever gonna take a break?” he asked, making his way over to the fridge and grabbing a can of soda on the top shelf. She scoffed at him.  


“I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about how important this is, seeing as you’re just going into your freshman year, but I need to get as many credits and courses done as I can before I apply to universities. They won’t just take anybody, you know.” Jazz huffed, visibly annoyed with her brothers lackadaisical behavior. Danny shrugged. He knew he’d have plenty of time before that all came around for him. For now, he’d just focus on surviving the next four years of High school.  


“Where are mom and dad?” He asked, the persistent lack of care still in his voice.  


“Out.” she replied, her nose in the book she was scribbling notes from. “Said something about the portal needing a fresh pair of eyes.”  


At this, a spark lit in Danny’s eyes, one that shone curiosity and intrigue that was out of this world. For, that’s what his parents were trying to achieve. A portal out of this world and into the next. In doing so, they would not only prove the existence of other beings but also create a mode of transportation into their world. They’d been working on it for over a year now and had gotten farther than any other known scientist in the community, but they had still been missing something.  


“Have you checked it out recently?” Danny asked, his sister still doing her best to focus on her studies in front of her.  


“No. I don’t care about that stuff and you know it. I like to keep my head grounded, thank you very much.” she said in a finalizing tone. Danny rocked back and forth on his feet for a solid ten seconds before gently placing his can down on the counter.  


“I’m gonna go and have another look at it.” He muttered, making a beeline for the basement door which led to the lab. Jazz’s attention then focused back on her little brother.  


“Don’t touch anything you know you’re not supposed to. And put on a hazmat suit!” She called to him as he was halfway down the staircase. He mumbled a “yeah, yeah”, and proceeded down the final steps.  


The lab was always something incredible to behold and no one could ever expect it to be under the brick townhouse. Except, you know, if one were to look up at the giant glowing “Fenton Works” sign and the big metal Op Center on the roof. The you’d expect it. But take all of that away and you’d be blown away at all of the gadgets and gizmos that lay in wait. The cool metal look never ceased to disappoint Danny as he’d always loved the progressive futuristic look the lab had to offer. But he wasn’t there for the aesthetic. At least, not today anyway. Today, he was here for the fabled “Ghost Portal”.  


His eyes were immediately drawn to the center back wall which held a large, octagonal hole that was surrounded in black and yellow warning tape. It truly was a sight to behold, standing at at least ten feet tall and wide, this giant mechanical wonder held the potential of new and unexplored worlds. Heeding his sisters warning, despite his own personal feelings towards it, Danny grabbed the black and white hazmat suit that his parents had made just for him. Of course his father had added his own personal touch by placing a sticker of his face on the chest, but Danny removed it immediately after pulling the suit up all of the way.  


Carefully, Danny took his time examining the blue prints to the machine. They seemed straight forward enough, labeling how it would be powered as well as how to stabilize the tear in-between worlds without having it all collapse as well as creating a black hole. For anybody else, they would be baffled, but when you live in a house a brainiacs for fourteen years, nothing really surprises you. He then checked to make sure that the machine was, indeed, plugged in. Seeing that it was, he took another look at the ten foot hole in the wall.  


Two things happened simultaneously in his mind. The first was to go inside of the portal and take a closer look at the inner workings. The second was a response to the first thought, which was that this could have severe consequences if something should happen while inside of the portal. He could be torn to shreds, electrocuted, lost in a black hole that could lead to who knows when or where.  
Whilst all of this sprinted through his mind, his body moved seemingly on its own. He then found himself squinting and feeling along the walls of the portal in the dark trying to get a better sense of what he was looking at. The bright idea came to him that he should grab the big HID flashlight his dad kept in the work bench when he felt a click underneath his left index finger.  


Mid-breath, the air was caught in his throat and his body tensed. Unable to move, he felt his muscles constricting more and more until he was on the ground, screaming in agony. Or at least he thought he was screaming. In reality, all he was really doing was choking and spasming on the ground while thousands of milliamps coursed through his body.  


I’m being electrocuted. The thought swam in his mind as his heart stopped beating and his flesh began to burn. Green light surrounded him and screams and moans that weren’t his own pierced his ears. Then,what he thought to be an invisible force, that actually turned out to be one final spasm of his muscles, shot him out of the portal.  
***  


The sound of electrical whirring caught Jazz’s attention. She knew she had told Danny not to touch anything he wasn’t supposed to, but clearly she hadn’t been specific enough. She was getting ready to tell him off when a heavy thud could be heard from the kitchen. It didn’t sound metallic, but just in case she should go and check it out. Marking her page, she hastily made her way to the basement door.  


“Danny, quit fooling around! I’m trying to study.” She called.  


Dead silence met her ears and her stomach dropped to her knees.  


“…”  


“Danny?” she called again, only above a whisper. Once again, only empty silence greeted her. She all but ran down the stairs.  
***  


Danny was jarred back to consciousness by a cold rush of air to his lungs. His body felt like it was on fire and each breath felt like he was being stabbed. Not really the combination he wanted or needed. He moved slowly, but that didn’t lessen the pain. In fact, it seemed to increase with each pain staking inch of movement. Making his way to the closest mirror, he evaluated the damage done.  


He was met with a surprised face that was close to his own, except for a few differing features. Instead of his usual black hair, his reflection showed him having snow white hair. His eyes were a radioactive green instead of their normal icy blue. He touched his face, and the reflection reciprocated the movement, shock growing on its face. The pain in his body was being dulled, most likely from adrenaline, but in the moment he blamed it on the shock he was facing. Was he dead? He had heard stories about people being scared to death and their hair turning white. Surely this could be no different.  
Panic fluttered in his chest and he noticed for the first time since reaching consciousness that there was a significant lack of a heartbeat behind his sternum, which of course only increased his anxiety levels. His breathing grew ragged and heavy and before he could think of what to do next, darkness swallowed him whole.  
***  


As Jazz reached the last step, a bright flash of white light caught her eye. Looking in its direction she saw a horrific scene in front of her. There was her brother, unconscious on the floor with the smell of what she could only assume to be burning flesh and rubber rising off of him. Sprinting towards him, she saw his chest moving with small, shallow breaths. Her breathing soon matched his own as she frantically tried to remember what her mother and father had taught her about first aid and safety in the lab. But she was drawing a blank, her memory failing her for the first time in sixteen years.  


Luckily, her body seemed to move without the help of her conscious and panicking brain, reaching for the cellphone in her pocket and immediately dialing 9-1-1. In a blur, she could somewhat understand that she was crying and trying to describe the the scene in front of her while a young operator on the other side of the line did their best to keep her calm and collected until the ambulance they had sent arrived.  


Time seemed to drag on forever, but she would later learn that it was only eight minutes in between her calling and the paramedics busting through the door. Apparently, it wasn’t hard for them to find the scene of the accident, what with the loud whirring from the portal and the sound of Jazz’s frantic plea’s. They wasted no time putting Danny onto a stretcher and supplying him with fresh oxygen. After he was loaded into the back of the ambulance, one of the paramedics approached Jazz and told her to contact their parents immediately and to meet them at the ER next to North Mercy Hospital. She agreed and called them from her car, delivering as much detail as she could whilst crying and driving.


	2. Time Is A Bullshit Concept And If That Clock Ticks ONE MORE TIME

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up in a hospital is not fun. It sucks. Like REALLY SUCKS. Not knowing why you're there only adds to the nonsense that is human existence and frankly fighting any of the employees/smugassbitchass doctors would be so relaxing...

_Cold. God was he so undeniably cold. The kind of cold your stomach gets after being outside at five in the morning, shoveling snow for two hours. Every fibre of his being should have been shaking dueto his chilled core, but no such thing occurred. Maybe his body was just too exhausted for any real form of movement such as the act of shaking like a leaf. Oh man, was his body sore. Did he run an impromptu marathon? Get hit by a car? Did he…_

 

Danny’s eyes flew open. Well, they “flew” open best they could, considering his circumstance. But, to onlookers it looked to be a painful process. Looking around, he saw that he was in an unnaturally lit room, with pastel walls that looked like they were decorated before this century. Beyond the ringing in his ears, a very slow beeping could be heard to his left. Dragging his tired eyes, Danny saw that he was hooked up to a heart monitor, an IV, as well as a breathing tube that had been so graciously crammed down his trachea. The machine that helped him to breathe was too much, taking in too much air. Way more than Danny was comfortable taking in, seeing as his chest caught fire every time his diaphragm was forced to move. He counted his breaths while looking at the obnoxiously loud wall clock above his room door and clocked his breaths at fifteen a minute. Statistically average, but to Danny it was too much. Like he was breathing five times more than what felt comfortable. Confused at this discovery, he then turned his attention to the heart monitor that was obnoxiously slow in comparison to his breaths. His body tensed at the bright red numbers that read twenty seven bpm. 

It all felt so unreal, like he was… was… He closed his eyes in concentration, trying to remember what Jazz had said about “ways of coping”… Disassociation! That was it. He felt like he was ‘disassociating’ with his reality. His mind was reeling, but felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. He started to ignore his breathing and the noises of the room started fading away as he just stared into nothingness. He tried to start a thinking process, he really did, but every time something would start to emerge from his foggy consciousness, it was covered back up again. Like early morning sailors working at the docks after a rainy night. They were there, but it seemed so unreal.

“Hey.” A shaky voice startled Danny back to the present. He could hear his heart jump up a beat, but paid it no mind as he turned to find his sister surprisingly disheveled. Her hair was not neat and combed back as it usually was and her makeup, though slight, was smeared and smudged from what appeared to be crying. She offered him a smile, but the tiredness of her eyes spoke more than she ever could( and boy could she speak).

“Wh-“ He started, but his speech was immediately choked off from the tube in his mouth, causing him to cough and convulse violently as he tried to catch his breath. He saw Jazz shoot her hand to something at his side and press what looked like a nurse call button. Without really thinking it through, as was his specialty, Danny removed the tube from his mouth, causing even more hacking and coughing, and feeding the fire of the all out burn pit in his lungs. Once he had so “expertly” removed it, a startled nurse came jogging in.

“Mr. Fenton! Please don’t remove your tube! You still need help…” He trailed off, surprised at the fact that the boy in front of him seemed more at ease with the medical equipment removed from his throat, breathing more naturally and with ease than he had before.

“Some recovery…”the nurse muttered before checking the other machines hooked up to him. Heart beat was normal, at least to the nurses eye, at 72 bpm. The IV was going to need changing in a minute, but he would rewrap the boys arm first.

“What” Danny croaked before his sister put a gentle finger over his lips.

“There was an accident with the lab. Do you remember going down into the lab?” She asked. It took him a minute to collect his thoughts as they slowly unravelled, but he nodded. Jazz continued.

“You were down there for about ten minutes looking at the portal.” She eased, making sure not to startle any viscous and triggering memories that may be lying in wait. Danny nodded again, pieces slowly coming together.

“You went into the portal.”

“…”

“You turned on the portal.”

“…”

“Danny…”

He didn’t say anything, nor did he nod in acknowledgement. Coming back to that afternoon was like wiping a foggy windshield over and over again. Things were clear and then they weren’t. He had to keep wiping, keep trying to see what was ahead, but he just…

He sighed with heavy resignation. They would come, those memories would. Or maybe even better, they wouldn’t and he could put this whole situation behind him and move on. Jazz must have seen his tired frustration. She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and stood.

“Mom and Dad are downstairs in the cafeteria. I’m gonna bring them up, okay?” She asked. Danny made no move to illustrate whether or not he was truly okay with it. He didn’t care, he just wanted to sleep for a solid week and let whatever happened to his body heal. Jazz only waited for thirty seconds before nodding at the nothing her brother had given her before quietly stepping out. He watched her leave, only to be startled yet again as the almost forgotten nurse hummed at his side.

“Odd.” The man said, examining Danny’s left hand with intense intrigue. He turned Danny’s arm over and over in his hands, examine every inch of skin the appendage had to offer. There was no longer a burn wound on the boys hand. It was more than healed, looking as if the wound had happened a year ago, with just the faint pink tint of a scar as a reminder. Maybe they’d misjudged the wound when he’d first come in. After all, the hospital didn’t seem to care about much anymore, so they initial staff had probably just over exaggerated in order to raise the family’s bill. 

From Danny’s eyes though, it was a different story. His arm and hand were covered in a grotesque shine that always came after a third degree burn. And though his arm did not show the same distress one’s skin usually did after being burned, such as the fried skin still clinging onto it and muscle being exposed, it still held an angry red contempt for the teenagers flesh. But the man was so calm! He looked at it as if he were looking for a false splinter in a child’s arm, confusion and annoyancereadable on his face. For the first time, Danny felt like he throwing things out of proportion. Seeing things that clearly other didn't see. Was he… Could he possibly have a mental illn-

All thoughts stopped as two colorful blurs dashed into his room and planted themselves at his side. Jazz followed behind their parents slowly, making sure to keep her distance as to not make him feel like he was suffocating. Silently, he thanked his sister for keeping her doting to herself for once.

Teary eyes and choked sobs asked him so many questions. Apparently, he answered them all too. They asked what had happened, how it happened, when, where, with who, how long was it, did he see anything, did he hear anything, did he…

Finally, the most appropriate question came.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” His Mom asked, running her latex covered digits through his messy hair. And he stopped. Everything stopped. Even the bitch ass clock with its useless ticking stopped. He wasn’t breathing, even though he knew he was. He heart had stopped, even though the picture on the screen to his left showed the beat as it came and went with consistency. Was he okay? He had to really think now, not just scrape the surface of his thoughts. He had to chip away at the layers that were covering something unknown and new to him. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and his eyes locked with his hands on his lap, as if they could somehow sneak him the answer.

It was at that point that Jazz stepped in, offering for her parents to give him a break and talk to his doctor about when he could be released to go home. Though hesitant, they agreed to go with her, offering heavy promises of returning as quickly as possible as soon as they learned something. Whether Danny offered them a response, he couldn’t say.

_Are you okay? Are YOU okay? Are you OKAY? ARE you okay?_

Depending on the different inflection he put into it, he could forge a thousand different responses. Ranging from “Yes” to “No” to “I don’t know” to even “I don’t feel real”. And he didn’t! Daniel James Fenton had never felt so removed from reality in his fourteen years of existence.

And it frightened him to no end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update. Some mutherfucker named "Life"(?) got in the way. Finished with my spring semester but I'm currently working full time and doing summer courses as well. I can't guarantee any consistency with updating this story. If you have any comments on the story or any forms of constructive criticism, it always greatly appreciated. Also, I'm on tumblr at http://hcumootgniknihtneebevi.tumblr.com . You can chill with me there if u wanna.


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